Six young whooping cranes began their ultralight-led migration Friday from the White River Marsh State Wildlife Area in Green Lake County, Wis. This is the 12th group of birds to take part in a project led by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP), an international coalition of public and private groups that is reintroducing this highly imperiled species in eastern North America, part of its historic range.

WCEP partner Operation Migration will use two ultralight aircraft to lead the juvenile cranes through Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia to reach the birds' wintering habitat at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) along Florida's Gulf Coast. The cranes are currently in Columbia County, Wis.

"Despite the fact that we have done this before, each year we learn something new about these wonderful birds," said Joe Duff, CEO of Operation Migration and leader of the ultralight team. "This year's flock seems more attentive, and we hope to make better progress. Our target is to arrive in Florida before Christmas."

In addition to the six birds being led south by ultralights, biologists from WCEP partner, International Crane Foundation, are currently rearing six whooping crane chicks at Horicon NWR in Dodge County, Wis. The birds will be released later this fall in the company of older cranes from whom the young birds will learn the migration route south. This is the eighth year WCEP has used this Direct Autumn Release (DAR) method.

Whooping cranes that take part in the ultralight and DAR reintroductions are hatched at the U.S. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Md., and at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wis. Chicks are raised under a strict isolation protocol, and to ensure the birds remain wild, handlers adhere to a no-talking rule and wear costumes designed to mask the human form.

The 12 ultralight-led and DAR chicks are joining two wild-hatched chicks in the 2012 cohort. These two wild-raised chicks will follow their respective parents on migration. In addition to the 14 juvenile cranes, 102 whooping cranes are currently in the eastern migratory population.

Whooping cranes were on the verge of extinction in the 1940s. Today, there are only about 600 birds in existence, approximately 445 of them in the wild. Aside from the WCEP birds, the only other migratory population of whooping cranes nests at Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Alberta, Canada and winters at Aransas NWR on the Texas Gulf Coast. A non-migratory flock of approximately 20 birds lives year-round in the central Florida Kissimmee region, and an additional 17 non-migratory cranes live in southern Louisiana.

WCEP asks anyone who encounters a whooping crane in the wild to please give them the respect and distance they need. Do not approach birds on foot within 200 yards; remain in your vehicle; do not approach in a vehicle any closer than 100 yards. Also, please remain concealed and do not speak loudly enough that the birds can hear you. Finally, do not trespass on private property in an attempt to view or photograph whooping cranes.

Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership founding members are the International Crane Foundation, Operation Migration, Inc., Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and National Wildlife Health Center, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, and the International Whooping Crane Recovery Team.

Many other flyway states, provinces, private individuals and conservation groups have joined forces with and support WCEP by donating resources, funding and personnel. More than 60 percent of the project's budget comes from private sources in the form of grants, public donations and corporate sponsors.

To report whooping crane sightings, visit the WCEP whooping crane observation webpage at: http://www.fws.gov/midwest/whoopingcrane/sightings/sightingform.cfm.

Guitarist, educator, and historian Scott Ainslie will be the first artist-in-residence for the Mississippi Valley Blues Society's Blues in the Schools program for the 2012-2013 academic year.  He will visit schools in the Quad-City area during the week of October 22-26.  He will also present three open-to-the-public performances:

• Monday October 22?LeClaire Community Library (3^rd and Wisconsin, LeClaire IA), 6:00-7:00 p.m.
• Thursday October 25?River Music Experience Café (2^nd and Main, Davenport IA), 7:00-9:00 p.m.
• Friday October 26?The Muddy Waters (1708 State St. Bettendorf IA), 9:00-9:45 p.m.

In 1967, at a Mike Seeger concert at his high school outside of Washington DC, Scott Ainslie heard Virginia bluesman John Jackson (1924-2002) play a couple of songs.  Things haven't been the same since.  Scott started playing guitar a month later and has now spent nearly forty years studying and playing traditional music, visiting and documenting senior musicians in America's old-time banjo and fiddle music, blues and gospel traditions.

Drawing  on the musical  legacies  of  Delta blues  legends  Robert  Johnson  and Muddy Waters, the East  Coast's Blind Blake,  and  Durham NC's  Reverend  Gary  Davis  and Blind Boy  Fuller, Scott Ainslie  is  a  noted  performer  and  scholar  with  experience teaching elements  of African  and African-American music to  students  of  all  ages,  both  in the classroom  and  from the  stage.

With five CDs, a teaching DVD on the guitar techniques of Delta blues legend Robert Johnson, and a book on Johnson's music?Robert Johnson/At The Crossroads (Hal Leonard, 1992)?to his credit, as a performer and a teacher Scott Ainslie continues to present programs that are vital and entertaining. On the road, Scott performs and presents workshops in schools, libraries, community arts venues, colleges and festivals. He is also a respected instructor at music programs across the country and maintains an active schedule teaching guitar out of his home in Brattleboro, Vermont.

His work includes teaching concerts on the African roots of American music using live performances of blues, worksongs, gospel, jazz, and rhythm and blues to illustrate the historical and musical connections between African and American cultures.  Scott's performances always include interesting stories and anecdotes about the music that leave his audiences slyly better educated and fully entertained.

From 1986 until 2001, Scott served as a Visiting Artist in artist-in-residency programs throughout North Carolina and Virginia. Based at community colleges and serving local communities, he developed a strong educational component to his performances, seeking out the history and background of the music in order to make it moving and interesting to audiences of varying ages and backgrounds.  Performing on guitars, a one-stringed diddley bow (of African derivation) and recently, the gourd banjo and Southern old-time fiddling, Scott brings four decades of experience with traditional music and musicians to his audiences.

From community concert series and local schools to the Kennedy Center and the renowned Empire Music Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Scott Ainslie plays and speaks of the music he loves with passion and authority. Combining over 30 years of scholarship and 40 playing guitar, Scott presents a beguiling mix of the African and American roots of the blues in story and song.

Ainslie's recordings include three roots-oriented acoustic blues projects, Jealous of the Moon (1995), Terraplane (1997), You Better Lie Down (2002), and a collection of Ainslie's non-blues original songs, The Feral Crow (2004)?which continues his exploration and mastery of pre-World War II guitar styles, and his current Thunder's Mouth (2008).

Major funding for Scott Ainslie's Blues in the Schools residency comes from the Riverboat Development Authority.  Thanks also to our sponsors The Iowa Arts Council, The Moline Foundation, Alcoa, The Lodge, and KALA radio.

Amana - Join The Old Creamery Theatre for Young Audiences for the delightful story of Bunnicula, just in time for Halloween! Bunnicula opens Saturday, Oct. 20th on the Main Stage and runs through Nov. 3.

Written by James and Deborah Howe, adapted by Jon Klein with music by Chris Jeffries, Bunnicula follows the adventures of a cute and cuddly bunny by day and something else entirely by night!

Directed by Sean McCall of Marengo, the cast of Bunnicula consists of Nicholas Hodge of South Amana, Jeff Haffner of Cleveland Ohio, Elizabeth Higbee of Tonganoxie Kansas, Vaughn Irving of Washington DC, Jackie McCall of Marengo and Max Locher and Brennan Urbi both of Cedar Rapids.

Bunnicula is rated Theatre G for all audiences. Tickets are $8 per person for reserved seating. Show times are 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20, 27 and Nov. 3 and 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 23, Thursday, Oct. 25 and Saturday Oct. 27. Walk-ins are welcome but some weekday matinees are sold out and reservations are highly recommended for all shows.

Bunnicula is sponsored by Scheels with Kiss Country 96.5 as the media sponsor.

For tickets or more information, call the box office at 800-35-AMANA or 800-352-6262 or visit the website at www.oldcreamery.com

The Old Creamery Theatre Company is a not-for-profit professional theatre founded in 1971 in Garrison, Iowa. The company is celebrating 41 years of bringing live, professional theatre to the people of Iowa and the Midwest.

SPRINGFIELD, IL (10/02/2012)(readMedia)-- George Campbell of Roseville retired September 30 after 40 years of service to the Illinois National Guard, 20 of those as an enlisted Soldier in the Illinois National Guard where he retired as a first sergeant. The remainder of his service was as a state building and grounds laborer for the Macomb Armory.

Born and raised in Macomb, Campbell lived very close to the armory growing up.

"This building has been a major part of my life." Campbell said. "Before I joined, I went to the high school right behind the armory and walked by the armory every day. At the time I didn't realize how much of a major role it would play in my life."

Campbell's service did not stop when he retired from the Illinois National Guard in September 1992. He continued his service to the Illinois National Guard as an Illinois state building and grounds laborer for the Macomb Armory.

"I would put the looks of this armory up against any facility, George has done a fantastic job," said Master Sgt. Christopher Carlock of Astoria, with Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment 44th Chemical Battalion.

In addition to Campbell's work at the armory, many people developed a close personal bond with Campbell and looked up to him.

"We will definitely feel a hole here with George being gone. I am personally going to miss having George here at the armory," said Carlock. "He was a spiritual leader for me and was a great friend to have around the facility."

Campbell sculpted some of the high-ranking officers that lead the Soldiers of the Illinois National Guard today. Campbell guided and mentored his troops while serving as the first sergeant for Battery B, 2nd Battalion, 123rd Field Artillery Regiment. "George, who was my first sergeant, was always there for me when I was a private," said Lt. Col. Maurice Rochelle of Flossmoor with the 404th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. "He was instrumental in helping me become the noncommissioned officer I was with Battery B."

Campbell plans on working part-time and spending more time with his family and traveling to the southern parts of the United States to listen to southern gospel vocal groups.